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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25310653">Who Died First, Dies First</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/osaa_pax/pseuds/osaa_pax'>osaa_pax</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:07:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25310653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/osaa_pax/pseuds/osaa_pax</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An innocuous question at dinner turns reveals Nicky's one true fear.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>871</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Who Died First, Dies First</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Came for bad-ass Charlize Theron, stayed for Kiki Layne, keep coming back for the Immortal Husbands</p><p>This is not beta-reviewed, and I haven't finished the original comics so apologies in advance for inaccuracies and incorrectness!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Who died first is a matter of great debate amongst the two men. They’ve been dying and resurrecting for just about 900 years now, and every so often, the debate – who was killed first – rises back to the top.</p><p>This time it was because Nile was asking. The four immortals were hiding out in southern Spain, in a spacious farmhouse among the hills of olive groves in Andalusia. Nicky liked the area because it was quiet and safe. Joe liked it because it allowed him and Nicky to have some well-deserved privacy.</p><p>Nile, Nicky, and Joe were eating dinner. Andy was “out for a run”, which seemed legitimate to Nile, but Nicky and Joe knew better. Andy was more likely in a bed with some poor soul, fucking out her frustrations.</p><p>“So, who killed who first?” Nile asks, almost absentmindedly, face a little flushed from all the sweet Spanish wine.</p><p>Joe smirks as Nicky tilts his head, trying to answer as best as possible.</p><p>“Well, it was during the First Crusade,” Nicky starts after taking a sip of his wine, “1100-something, it was a few years in. It took us Christians a few years itself to just get in the vicinity of the Holy Land.”</p><p>Nile laughs into her glass. It had been 6 months since she’d met Andy and the crew, but hearing them talk about things that happened centuries ago still made her head spin.</p><p>“So,” Nicky continues, “What I do remember is that it was a battle in what is now Syria. I remember that there was a lot of blood, the first time that I had seen violence on this scale. But this was before we started having dreams of each other since we were still under the impression that we were mortal at this point. So, I don’t remember seeing Joe on the battlefield that first time. I don’t remember who died first or if I killed him or if he killed me. And, well, we were killing each other for about the next 400 years, as well, which adds to the fogginess.”</p><p>“Short answer,” Joe interjects, “We don’t know because we were a little preoccupied with the coming back to life thing that we didn’t pay enough attention to the 'before.'”</p><p>Nicky looks at Joe with pursed lips. Nile just sits, softly smiling at how the two of them seemed to practically read each other’s’ minds.</p><p>“What?” Joe asks Nicky, getting up to refill their glasses.</p><p>“For a man who says a hundred words when only ten are needed, I’m just surprised that you would leave it at that,” Nicky responds tilting his head up to look at Joe.</p><p>“Nicky, my love,” Joe groans, “We’ve been having this argument for literally eight centuries, we can just leave it at that we don’t remember.”</p><p>“Couldn’t Andy tell you?” Nile asks, recalling the dreams the rest of them told her about when they felt her die.</p><p>With an eye roll, Joe replies, “She insists that she can’t tell, the dreams were basically occurring concurrently. Though she <i>thinks</i> she dreamt of me first.”</p><p>Nile snorts, “That’s convenient. So you two just keep having this argument every few decades or so?”</p><p>Nicky leans back in his chair, gazing at Nile and Joe defiantly. “We keep having this argument because it’s a legitimate one. It stands to reason that whoever died first, will die first. Permanently.”</p><p>Joe and Nile stay quiet, a simple question suddenly feeling much more serious than any of them had bargained for. Nile looks at Joe, who just stares at Nicky with a sadness that makes Nile’s heart wrench.</p><p>Nile rises to leave, hoping desperately that her exit will help soften the tension that’s filled the room.</p><p>“Wow, it got really late all of a sudden! I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Thanks for dinner, Nicky.”</p><p>“Night, Nile.”<br/>
<i>“Buona notte.”</i></p><p>Joe chuckles, watching her leave. “She’s so … American."

He smiles conspiratorially at Nicky across the table, as he’s done millions of times, but Nicky just moves to clear the dishes from the table, pointedly not looking at Joe. As he’s at the sink he hears Joe come up behind him.</p><p>“Nicoló,” Joe sighs, coming into the kitchen, and perching on the counter across from where Nicky is standing at the sink.</p><p>Joe hadn’t realized how deeply Andy’s sudden mortality was weighing on Nicky. Since that first day, when they had come back from the dead, when they had first dreamt of the other, it had always been them together. Joe had never even considered that if he had killed Nicky first, that Nicky would be the first of them to go, permanently.</p><p>“Doesn’t it scare you?” Nicky says softly, turning off the faucet. “Doesn’t it scare the shit out of you that there will be a time where one of us is living and the other is gone? Like, really gone?”<br/>
He rakes a hand through his hair, a gesture Joe recognizes as frustration laced with panic.</p><p>“I’m scared, Joe. We’ve seen so much death and violence over the years. So much pain. But we’ve always gotten through it. None of that scares me. The only thing that scares me is the years, days, seconds, when you will be dead, and I will still be living.”</p><p>“Oh, so you’re that sure that you killed me first?” Joe responds teasingly.</p><p>“I’m being serious, Yusuf,” Nicky responds angrily, this time in Italian. Nicky always resorted back to Italian when he was pissed off.</p><p>“Nicoló,” Joe’s tone changes, no longer joking, not angry, but cautious. After so many centuries, it still surprises Nicky that a man as passionate, as emotional, and as fierce as Joe, could be so soft.</p><p>“I am always right behind you. And I know that you will always be behind me,” Joe closes the space between the two, cradling Nicky’s face in his hands. “Death is not so powerful that it could forever separate us.”</p><p>Nicky sighs, bringing his hands to rest on Joe’s shoulders. “Fine.”</p><p>Chuckling, Joe releases Nicky and begins retreating to their room. “Though, if it’s more of a matter of pride, my love, I’m fine with lying and saying you killed me first. Not that anyone will believe it.”</p>
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